James Patterson Lyke, O.F.M. (February 18, 1939 – December 27, 1992) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who served as Archbishop of Atlanta from 1991 to 1992. He was the second-ever Black archbishop in America.

Biography

Early life

James Lyke was born on the South Side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, the youngest of seven children of Amos and Ora (née Sneed) Lyke. His father abandoned the family, and his mother was left to raise the children in impoverished surroundings, relying on

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

checks. The family lived in a flat, where there were no beds and the only source of heat was a coal stove, before moving to Wentworth Gardens, a Chicago

housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...

Conversion

His mother, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, sent James to a Catholic school in the fourth grade in order to keep him out of trouble, and did the church's laundry to help pay the tuition. Shortly afterwards, she and six of her children, including James, converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Religious life

He joined the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

order in 1959, studying at St. Francis Novitiate in

Teutopolis, Illinois Teutopolis is a village in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,618. Geography Teutopolis is located in northeastern Effingham County at (39.132125, -88.478435). U.S. Route 40 (National Roa ...

, later obtaining his B.A. degree in philosophy at Our Lady of Angels House of Philosophy through

Quincy College Quincy College (QC) is a public community college in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is an open admission commuter school that offers associate degrees, bachelor degrees, and certificate programs. It was founded in 1958 and enrolls approximately 4,500 ...

in Illinois. He received a master's of divinity from St. Joseph Theological Seminary in Teutopolis.

Episcopacy

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named him Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland and titular bishop of Furnos Major on June 30, 1979. He obtained a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in theology in 1981 from the

Union Graduate School Union Institute & University (UI&U) is a private university in Cincinnati, Ohio. It specializes in limited residence and distance learning programs. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and operates satellite campuses ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. While serving as Auxiliary Bishop in the

Diocese of Cleveland The Diocese of Cleveland ( la, Dioecesis Clevelandensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Pope Pius IX erected the diocese April 23, 1847, in te ...

, Lyke coordinated the group that produced ''Lead Me, Guide Me: The African American Catholic Hymnal'' in 1987. After the resignation of Archbishop Eugene Marino due to scandal, Lyke was appointed

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the

Archdiocese of Atlanta In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

on July 10, 1990. He was appointed archbishop there on April 30, 1991, and was installed there on June 24, 1991.

Death

Lyke died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on December 27, 1992. At the time of his death, he was the highest-ranking Black Catholic clergyman in the nation.

Legacy

A number of institutions in the United States have been named in Lyke's memory, including:
Lyke House
- the Catholic

Newman Center Newman Centers, Newman Houses, Newman Clubs, or Newman Communities are Catholic campus ministry centers at secular universities. The movement was inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman encouraging societies for Catholic stude ...

at the

Atlanta University Center The Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium) is the oldest and largest contiguous consortium of African-American higher education institutions in the United States. The center consists of four historically black colleges and universi ...

. * Archbishop Lyke Catholic Elementary School in Cleveland - In 1994, Saints Catherine and Henry in Cleveland and Saint Timothy in Garfield Heights, which are predominantly African-American Catholic parishes, merged their grade schools into Archbishop Lyke Elementary. They have a two-campus system in which St. Henry has grades K-4 and St. Timothy grades 5-8. * Archbishop Lyke Conference - A Black Catholic liturgical conference held each year in a different major city, including pre-conferences on preaching, music ministry, dance, and young adults.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyke, James Patterson 1939 births 1992 deaths African-American Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Clergy from Chicago Converts to Roman Catholicism from Baptist denominations Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta American Friars Minor Franciscan bishops Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Roman Catholic archbishops of Atlanta Catholics from Illinois African-American Roman Catholic archbishops African-American Catholic consecrated religious